U.S. Marines patrolling the Texas-Mexico border as part of the War on Drugs shot and killed Esequiel Hernández Jr. Mistaken for a drug runner, the 18-year-old was, in fact, a U.S. citizen tending his family’s goats with a .22 rifle. He became the first American killed by U.S. military forces on native soil since the 1970 Kent State shootings. Narrated by Tommy Lee Jones, the film explores Hernández’s tragic death and its torturous aftermath. His parents and friends, the Marines on patrol, and investigators discuss the dangers of militarizing the border and the death of one young man. A co-presentation of POV.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS+

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Kieran Fitzgerald
Director

Kieran Fitzgerald directed several short films as an undergraduate at Harvard University. He worked as a production assistant for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and Colour Me Kubrick, and directed a documentary short, Being Alan Conway, about the man who impersonated Stanley Kubrick during the 1990s. “The Ballad of Esequiel Hernández” is his first feature-length documentary film.

DVD copies for this program are currently available. For more information, please visit: www.heyokapictures.com/DVD.html.

Please visit the filmmaker’s website for more information at:
www.heyokapictures.com

About Us

Latino Public Broadcasting is the leader of the development, production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural media that is representative of Latino people, or addresses issues of particular interest to Latino Americans. These programs are produced for dissemination to the public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. LPB provides a voice to the diverse Latino community on public media throughout the United States.